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Thursday, November 17, 2011

Conviction of ‘Paid Hitman’ over Leslie Cumming ‘murder bid’ leaves more questions than answers in Law Society’s organised fit-up of critics scandal

Robert Graham was convicted of the attack on former Chief Accountant Leslie Cumming of the Law Society of Scotland.ROBERT GRAHAM (aged 46), an alleged ‘paid hitman’ who stood accused of an attempted ‘murder hit’ which took place in January 2006 at Murrayfield, Edinburgh against Leslie Cumming, the now former Chief Accountant of the Law Society of Scotland, was convicted today at the High Court in Edinburgh after a trial lasting nine days. Mr Graham was found guilty by a majority jury verdict and was remanded in custody to appear for sentencing on 15 December. Mr Graham was extradited back to Scotland from Australia last year to be charged with repeatedly striking Mr Cumming on the head and body with a knife or similar instrument to his severe injury, permanent disfigurement and to the danger of his life in the attack which took place six years ago.

The High Court heard earlier this week from Graham who denied attempting to murder the Law Society accountant, claiming he did not assault Mr Cumming, rather he intervened in the attack, (allegedly carried out by another party), to stop Mr Cumming getting “a bigger hiding”. During the accused’s testimony, Graham told the court he was born in Ireland as Paul Francis McGhee before emigrating to New Zealand at the age of nine but in Britain he called himself Robert Graham. The court also heard from a witness that Graham had confessed to a colleague that he had "done a judge in" and was paid £10,000 by a guy in a BMW to give him "a good working over".

The witness who told the court of the alleged boast by Graham, scaffolder Nicholas Wells said he started work at Wembley Stadium in January 2006 and Graham joined a few weeks later. In a statement to police, he said: "He told me around this time he had done a judge in in Edinburgh, having jumped out some bushes at him. I can recall him telling me the guy from the BMW paid him £10,000 to do the job and told him to give the guy a good working over." Mr Wells told the court he had been approached by the police at a site he was working on in Edinburgh in 2009. Asked if he had told them the truth, Wells replied: "As I remember it at the time." He added: "I was taking a lot of drugs at the time. I was taking a lot of sleeping tablets ... it is hard to remember it all clearly now."

The court heard that during the assault, Mr Cumming grasped the balaclava worn by the attacker in an attempt to pull it off while further DNA evidence was recovered from the Barbour jacket Mr Cumming was wearing at the time of the attack. Additional DNA material was taken from Mr Cumming before doctors treated his wounds, and the DNA was linked back to Graham in tests.

Forensic scientist Amanda Pirie, 39, told the High Court last Friday it had been a "full" match which was "as good as it gets" and left a one in a billion chance that it belonged to someone else. She added that another match had been made with DNA found on the jacket Mr Cumming was wearing when he was attacked. She said: "In our opinion the scientific findings from examination of the jacket and the left hand swabs are consistent with Robert Graham having assaulted Leslie Cumming as alleged."

At the conclusion of the trial today, John Logue, Area Procurator Fiscal for Lothian & Borders, said: “In 2006 Robert Graham targeted and tried to kill Leslie Cumming because he was paid to do so. Today, almost six years later, he has been found guilty of this vicious and cowardly attack after being extradited from Australia.”

Mr Logue continued : “He was brought to justice by the perseverance and diligence of officers in Lothian and Borders Police who tracked him down, assisted by Interpol and authorities in New Zealand and Australia. I hope that today’s successful prosecution will secure the confidence of the Scottish public that those who try to evade justice will be pursued and brought before the courts.”

Leslie Cumming, former Law Society of Scotland’s Chief Accountant. At the end of the trial, Mr Cumming commented : "The police perseverance and professionalism and the Crown Office input have been vital in securing the result. It's important to me that I got that closure and I just want to thank the members of the team who were involved in this complicated case for their efforts on my behalf. The actual event was horrific and bloody and having to explain to the court in such detail as we could recall at this time was traumatic for my wife and me. I hope now the trial is complete and the result is known that this nightmare has ended for us and we can get back to normal life."

Commenting after the majority verdict convicted Robert Graham of the attack on Mr Cumming, the Solicitor General for Scotland, Lesley Thomson QC, said : "He uses the name Robert Leiper Graham in this country and Paul Francis McGhee in New Zealand. The Crown is not in a position to say he is either of these people at this stage." Ms Thomson also said when Graham left New Zealand in 1999 there was an outstanding warrant out for him and that a notice had been served on him in a move to deport him from Britain.

Detective Chief Inspector Keith Hardie, of Lothian and Borders Police, said: "We welcome today's verdict which sends out a clear message that Lothian and Borders will quite literally pursue people to the other side of the world to bring them to court. He is a devious character, who has lived a lie for most of his adult life, and there were major concerns he would do his best to continue to evade justice."

However, the multi million pound investigation carried out by Lothian & Borders Police and the subsequent conviction of Robert Graham this week leaves more questions than answers over why the attack occurred in 2006, who allegedly paid Graham to carry our the attack and why Law Society of Scotland officials and a media outlet were so keen to pin the blame for the attack on critics & campaigners in a year where the Scottish Parliament had begun a major investigation into the Law Society of Scotland and its notoriously prejudiced closed shop handling of the regulation of crooked lawyers.

Over the years, insiders have claimed the Police have a good idea of exactly who ordered the attack on Mr Cumming, some even linking up the incident to other well reported frauds in Scotland which involved millions of pounds, well known crooked solicitors and a banker. However Lothian & Borders Police have said nothing officially on any of these claims.

The answer to the attack may well lie in Leslie Cumming's role with the Law Society of Scotland, where as its Deputy Chief Executive and Chief Accountant, Mr Cumming was in charge of teams of inspectors who audit the financial accounts of law firms to ensure compliance with the Law Society’s rules (rules to keep accounts, not rules to rip off clients as much as possible and undetected). Mr Cumming was also involved in disciplinary cases, of which there are many, many resulting in no criminal convictions where, for example a solicitor might make off with half a million pounds from a deceased’s client will, and get away with it, and be allowed to carry on working.

The conviction of Graham for the assault on Mr Cumming also closes the book on the Law Society’s attempt to fit-up critics & campaigners for the 2006 incident, where it was reported, senior Law Society officials had even provided statements to Police urging them to ‘collar’ persons the Law Society ‘did not get along with’.

Law Society of Scotland officials used Police, newspapers in attempt to link their critics to attack on Chief Accountant Leslie Cumming The Law Society of Scotland has of course, declined to explain why its senior officials gave private briefings to newspaper journalists just after the attack on Mr Cumming in late January of 2006, urging the publication of stories which were intended to pin the blame for the assault on Mr Cumming on critics & law reform campaigners who were seeking an end to self regulation of the legal profession (Cash laundering link to law chief stabbing, 29 January 2006, Scotland on Sunday). However, journalists at the time identified those at the Law Society who were involved in the private briefings & telephone calls to newspapers. Strangely, not one Law Society official was identified in the Scotland on Sunday story despite the highly charged accusations levelled against critics & law reform campaigners published in the paper.

A spokesperson for the Law Society of Scotland said of Mr Cumming : "He was a dedicated and popular member of staff and the attack was a great shock to his former colleagues. Leslie was determined not to let the attack stop him from living life to the full and he has done that in so many ways."

45 comments:

Anonymous
said...

Its good to know the colleagues of our Prosecutors are just as twisted as those being put behind bars today.. oh sorry I forgot stealing millions of pounds of public money isnt an offence if you are either connected to the Crown Office or in the cops!

You didnt leave much out did you Peter.Oh well I saw Reporting Scotland tonight and the Policeman sitting next to Cumming looked & sounded like he was holding a lot back.After six years I think its safe to assume the Police have a good idea who did it and why and how much was paid etc

Oh and if I were you dont bother buying the hootsmon on Sunday again.I dont and feel all the better for it!

This all sounds very corrupt all these people talking about the case as if its closed.Are they not going to bother looking for who paid Graham to do it?Are they worried they will find lawyers behind it all and there will be more bad headlines for the Law Society?

So in essence poor Mr Graham is languishing in jail because the control freaks at the Law Society wanted rid of their critics before the Scottish Parliament did something positive for a change.

For me the newspaper's story of the attack on critics seals the deal on something very fishy going on about this case.Also a majority verdict and not a unanimous so not all believed the Crown line on it all.

I have a feeling we are going to hear more of this case in the future....

FYI there has always been a strong suspicion one of the reasons Cumming was attacked revolved around the LSS nipping lpla in the bud before it got off the ground at Holyrood in 2006.Why do you think you were hit so hard in that news report and by only one newspaper group which.... well I'm sure you and your readers don't need me to tell you the rest.

How is the fine art of jury stacking in Scotland these days?Getting a verdict to suit by loading up jurors has always been a bit of a fame for prosecutions as we in the trade all know and this is without taking into account rumours of the occasional judge who accepts brown envelopes.

You may be interested to learn the Solicitor General Lesley Thomson who prosecuted Graham was at today's admissions ceremony for new lawyers and gave a speech to the new intake of the LSS.Jack has just tweeted it!

A spokesperson for the Law Society of Scotland said: "Leslie Cumming was the chief accountant and latterly the deputy chief executive of the Law Society of Scotland.

"He joined the staff in 1984 and worked tirelessly to improve the regulation of Scottish solicitors. He was a dedicated and popular member of staff and the attack was a great shock to his former colleagues.

"Leslie was determined not to let the attack stop him from living life to the full and he has done that in so many ways."

Mr Cumming, a qualified Chartered Accountant, retired from the Society in November 2006.

The Society offered a £5,000 reward, matching the amount offered by BBC Crimestoppers, to anyone who provided information leading to an arrest.

MmmmMMmm nice £5K.Was anyone actually paid the reward and if so what was the real figure and was the jury told about it???

Hmm I think you should sue the newspaper and the Law Society for those accusations against you although you will have to find a judge who isnt any of the following :

1.A drunk2.A crook3.A paedophile4.A racist sexist bigot5.A member of a secret society6.A tax dodger (I see you wrote about this earlier)7.An arse kisser to the establishment8.A wife or child beater9.One of those who has a double life,ie married with a wife & kids while having a secret rent boy lover(s) on the side.10.A people hater (most judges I've heard in court seem to qualify for this)

So if you can find a decent judge then you should sue.You might want to try the English courts too given the usual Scottish fit up applying to anyone who dares challenge the legal establishment.

The Herald say the reward money has not been paid although I'm not sure I believe much about the legal system after reading all this stuff because they also said the Lockerbie witnesses were not paid then it turned out they were secretly paid for their testimony

see here in the Herald today http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/crime-courts/attack-linked-to-victim-s-crooked-lawyer-inquiries-1.1135550

The society put up a £5000 reward, matching a sum offered by Crimestoppers, to help catch those responsible. However, the £10,000 is still unclaimed, as questions remain over the identity of the person responsible for ordering Robert Graham to carry out the attack.

Last night Detective Chief Inspector Keith Hardie, of Lothian and Borders Police, said: “The motive is something that may be the subject of further police investigation.”

He added it was thought “that from the outset this was related to the work that he had conducted for the Law Society”.

Mr Hardie said it was “most likely somebody that had been disgruntled by the investigations”.

He added: “I’m not suggesting for a second this is going to open up a can of worms ... but it [the new investigation] would be around somebody who set up Graham to carry out this attack.”

"Strangely, not one Law Society official was identified in the Scotland on Sunday story despite the highly charged accusations levelled against critics & law reform campaigners published in the paper."

Anyone remember the case of the two Irish brothers, builders by trade, who were accused in Court of violently assaulting several police officers - until they produced their own on site CCTV video of the 'incident' which confirmed that the boot had been on the other foot.

There has been a deafening silence re any progress in the prosecution for about 15 months now - I wonder why?

While reading this I had to remind myself I was reading a blog and not watching a movie!Suffice to say Peter the fact the Law Society tried to implicate you in this scandal just a few days after you started your blog is enough of an act in anyone's book to show where the real guilt lies and that is squarely with the Law Society.

For the record I dont think anyone else will be caught for what happened to poor Mr Cumming because whoever it is who was behind Graham is probably too close to the Law Society itself.Anyone with even half a brain will probably share this view.

The papers will be happy with a headline but I dont think its so clear cut,for one thing if the guy really is a hitman he must be crap because Cumming walked away from the attack and what with the Law Society wanting to pin it on their own enemies to shut everyone up well lets just say all the bs we've been treated to in court for the past nine days is exactly that.BS.

I hope that today’s successful prosecution will secure the confidence of the Scottish public that those who try to evade justice will be pursued and brought before the courts.”=================================We have no confidence in anything to do with the judiciary. A club of rats who act like gentlemen.

Hmm I think you should sue the newspaper and the Law Society for those accusations against you although you will have to find a judge who isnt any of the following :

1.A drunk 2.A crook 3.A paedophile 4.A racist sexist bigot 5.A member of a secret society 6.A tax dodger (I see you wrote about this earlier) 7.An arse kisser to the establishment 8.A wife or child beater 9.One of those who has a double life,ie married with a wife & kids while having a secret rent boy lover(s) on the side. 10.A people hater (most judges I've heard in court seem to qualify for this)

So if you can find a decent judge then you should sue.You might want to try the English courts too given the usual Scottish fit up applying to anyone who dares challenge the legal establishment.

Suffice to say Peter the fact the Law Society tried to implicate you in this scandal just a few days after you started your blog is enough of an act in anyone's book to show where the real guilt lies and that is squarely with the Law Society.================================Police collect evidence, Law society chiefs ordering attack, who decides what is admissible evidence? Crown Office, Procurator Fiscal, members of the Law Society. Jesus H Christ it stinks, if anyone believes a ReichsFuhrer at the Law Society is not involved in ordering this attack they must still believe in Santa Clause.

Suffice to say Peter the fact the Law Society tried to implicate you in this scandal just a few days after you started your blog is enough of an act in anyone's book to show where the real guilt lies and that is squarely with the Law Society.================================Police collect evidence, Law society chiefs ordering attack, who decides what is admissible evidence? Crown Office, Procurator Fiscal, members of the Law Society. Jesus H Christ it stinks, if anyone believes a ReichsFuhrer at the Law Society is not involved in ordering this attack they must still believe in Santa Clause.

You can include at least one transvestite and a heavily indebted gambler in that top ten list of Scottish judges.Also many of those categories also apply to solicitors and the advocates where there are some real masters of the double life....

5-10 years anyway for attempted murder and he hasnt grassed anyone up yet possibly not likely to do so by the looks of him so that means a lot more than £10K was put into the kitty.I think the cops and the Law Society are doing a lot of lying on this story.Just why is that now?Plenty comments on here seem to think there are other lawyers involved and I agree it looks like it is down to lawyers.

Some lawyer will get him an early release after all they just cut a pedo's sentence today probably because he knows where the pervs are in the justice systemhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-15790605

You know whats funny?Our Scottish tv stations dont report crooked lawyers all that much unless its someone having a go at them like in the Cumming case.What the f* is going on there???!!

Odd that evaryone associated with this case is relieved that it is now over. Finished.

What about the architect of the crime?

All they have done is caught the patsy.

Who had the biggest motive to want to threaten (you do not attempt to kill someone by slashing them) Leslie Cumming?

Is it really plausible that it was a Scottish Lawyer who had been disciplined or was being disciplined?

NO CHANCE.

The Law Society of Scotland and their Disciplinary arm the Scottish Solicitors Discipline Tribunal is designed in such a way as to be as light touch as possible for Scottish lawyers.

FACT.

It is far more likely then that it was one of two options:

(a) A Scottish lawyer who was found to be breaking the law, who was being threatened by LC whereby, he/ the Law Society of Scotland had a hold over this Scottish lawyer, and could exact 'favours' from them against the threat of disciplinary or police action/jail.

(b) Where Leslie Cumming was taking the view that he should blow the whistle on all of the unlawful practices employed for years by Office Bearers of the Law Society, either out of conscience or with the intention of negotiating a golden handshake retirement deal.

Given the new testimony regarding the BMW vehicle of the criminal architect, it would be interesting for LC to reflect if any of his senior colleagues drove a BMW at that time. A fact I am sure the police would be interested to explore too??

Ring any bells?http://www.heraldscotland.com/claims-shot-nairn-banker-owed-gangsters-pound-50-000-1.862637

Claims shot Nairn banker owed gangsters £50,000

JAMES MORGAN reporter

6 Aug 2007

Police hunting the killer of Alistair Wilson, the Nairn banker shot on his doorstep three years ago, yesterday said they could not comment on reports that he owed gangsters £50,000.

Police hunting the killer of Alistair Wilson, the Nairn banker shot on his doorstep three years ago, yesterday said they could not comment on reports that he owed gangsters £50,000.

It was claimed yesterday that Mr Wilson had borrowed the money from loan-sharks linked to the Glasgow underworld to finance a business venture.

When he was unable to repay it, the 30-year-old father of two was shot dead, according to a Sunday newspaper.

Nearly three years after the murder, which took place on November 28, 2004, detectives have still to establish a motive or a suspect for the crime.

No trace has been found of the money Mr Wilson is said to have borrowed.

Another theory is that he was killed for refusing to launder money through his bank, the Bank of Scotland in Inverness.

Mr Wilson was shot two weeks before he was due to leave the bank to go into business on his own.

Mr Wilson was putting his children to bed at the family home in Crescent Road when a man described as 5ft 4in to 5ft 8in tall, of stocky build and wearing a baseball cap and dark blouson jacket, arrived at the door.

He asked for Alistair Wilson by name when his wife, Veronica, opened the door to him early on the Sunday evening.

Mr Wilson came to the door, and spoke to the man and at one point went back into the house with a blue or green A4 envelope. When he returned, he was shot point blank. Police have not disclosed the the contents of the envelope.

At the height of the inquiry, 60 officers were involved. It has cost more than £2m, although earlier this year it was revealed the team had been scaled down to a handful of officers.

Police went as far as to collect DNA samples from 1000 locals, to compare with saliva from a cigarette butt found close to the murder scene.

At the time, officers said 19 DNA profiles had been isolated on the doorstep and just inside the vestibule of the house where Mr Wilson was shot, but only 18 have been identified.

Two reviews by detectives from Grampian Police of evidence and information gathered by Northern Constabulary failed to identify any possible leads.

A £10,000 Crimestoppers reward for information was withdrawn last December after no informants came forward.

Yesterday, a Northern Constabulary spokesman said they were unable to comment on reports of the £50,000 loan as detectives leading the case were unavailable.

Well all this should make your job of persuading firms not to litigate in Scotland much easier!I mean who is going to want to come here to do legal business when the criminals get away with chopping up their own regulators?!

Anonymous said... Well all this should make your job of persuading firms not to litigate in Scotland much easier!I mean who is going to want to come here to do legal business when the criminals get away with chopping up their own regulators?!

20 November 2011 19:41-----------------------------------

That is exactly the point....

What business would be attracted to a country who's legal regulators are corrupt and who's legal system is morally bereft and corrupt.

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Scotland’s top judge takes anti-transparency position on proposal for judicial interests register

Lack of judicial transparency - No justice if it cannot be seen

Media Editorial: The Sunday Mail newspaper says Senior judge's refusal to give evidence to MSPs shows a lack of transparency, says Mail Opinion on calls for judicial transparency in Petition PE1458: Register of Interests for members of Scotland's judiciary. It was an opportunity for Scotland’s top judge to go to Parliament and talk about how our legal system works and might work better. It would have added, as the public relations executives and politicians like to say, a little transparency. Instead, his refusal has only hardened the suspicion that our judges live and work in a bubble smelling of horse hair wigs, vintage port and even more vintage attitudes. More on the debate on judge’s interests can be viewed here : A Register of Interests for Scotland's Judiciary

NEWS SPECIAL: Coverage of the Annual Report 2012-2013 of Scotland’s Judicial Complaints Reviewer reveals Scottish judges are slammed for secrecy, anti-transparency views & how they investigate complaints against other judges.Moi Ali, appointed by the SNP’s Justice Secretary as Scotland’s first Judicial Complaints Reviewersaid: “I think fundamentally the problem is the legislation. “The way it’s created, it’s about self- regulation so you have judges judging judges’ conduct. There isn’t really an independent element.”. Read more HERE

REVEALED : Scotland’s Judicial Complaints Reviewer gave evidence to MSPs at the Scottish Parliament stating her office has no powers to properly investigate complaints against Scottish judges and that the judicial office regularly block access to files and information relating to complaints. In England & Wales, it is done very differently. Read more HERE

EXCLUSIVE REPORT: Scotland’s judiciary are refusing to cooperate with the independently appointed Judicial Complaints Reviewer over complaints made against Scottish judges. Scotland’s top judge also stands accused of regularly blocking independent access to key documents relating to allegations made against judges. Read more HERE

Scotland's top judge objects to Holyrood transparency call for a register of judicial interests

Exclusive Report : Scotland’s top judge Lord Gill claims judges are exempt from declaring their full financial & other interests as called for in Petition PE1458: Register of Interests for members of Scotland's judiciary A register could be created by the Scottish Parliament or by the Judicial Office for Scotland, which incorporates the Lord President’s office. Typically, such registers reveal details of hospitality, gifts, property ownership, shareholdings and personal or financial connections to outside organisations.

If you think Scotland's judges are honest, think again. An investigation reveals the true extent of their undeclared finances & interests. Read more HERE. Investigations have revealed Scotland's Judges have secret criminal records, massive wealth, unchecked influence, & murky investments along with connections to offshore tax havens, all of which go undeclared as there is no register of interests for the judiciary.

Business Interests: Are Scottish Judges overseas trips really just about law conferences?

Exclusive Report: Scotland's judges have racked up thousands of air miles on overseas trips, including jaunts to the US, India, Morocco and Malaysia. Taxpayers paid £83,644 to send judges and sheriffs and their partners around the world in the past three years revealed in this document. The Lord President also travels to Taiwan, South Africa & other countries yet refuses to travel 700m to the Scottish Parliament to face MSPs questions about judges’ secret undeclared interests.

Exclusive Report : A report published by the European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice reveals Scottish lawyers take home a lavish £161million in legal aid payments on a tiny client base compared to other EU countries’ lawyers. The EU REPORT also shows that Scotland disciplines a tiny number of lawyers compared to countries of similar size, and that Scotland’s sheriffs & judges top the EU pay league. A large proportion of alleged criminals reported to prosecutors in Scotland are also escaping justice while lawyers scoop up legal aid fees for dealing with cases which never make it to court.

EU Justice Report : Scots Justice System is most expensive, has poorest regulation in Europe

A MUST READ REPORT by the European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice reveals the Scottish justice system as the most unproductive, yet most expensive in the entire European Union. Scottish lawyers take tens of millions more in legal aid representing a population of 5 million than Italian lawyers who serve a population of 60 million. The report also reveals Scots judges are paid the highest in Europe, Scottish Sheriffs taking home an average taxpayer funded salary of £120K plus, while others in Scotland’s judiciary are paid £200K plus expenses.

The Scottish Civil Courts Review of 2009 authored by the then Lord Justice Clerk, now Lord President Lord Brian Gill, castigated Scotland’s Civil Justice System as being Victorian, costly, and unfit for purpose, yet years on from the review, little of the proposed reforms have been implemented due to pressure from vested interests in the legal world, and a lack of political will to deliver access to justice to all Scots.

The ‘independent’ lawyer run Scottish Legal Complaints Commission has lurched from scandal to scandal, and proved to be even worse at regulating complaints against Scottish solicitors than the Law Society of Scotland. Clients of Scottish solicitors who are forced to make complaints to the SLCC should read our previous reports on how the anti-client regulator may treat their case.

Exclusive Report: A Research Report from the University of Manchester School of Law, commissioned by the SLCC on the Law Society of Scotland’s two discredited client compensation schemes, the Master Insurance Policy & Scottish Solicitors Guarantee Fund reveals the extent of suicides, illness, broken families and financial ruin among clients who fall victim to rogue solicitors and attempt financial claims in order to recover funds & assets embezzled or stolen by their lawyers. The research report concludes the Law Society's Master Policy is set up “to allow solicitors to sleep at night”, so they can go on to ruin other unsuspecting clients. Read the full shocking story HERE

Name & Shame your crooked lawyer in the media

If you are making a complaint to the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission (SLCC), Law Society of Scotland or Faculty of Advocates about your solicitor or legal representatives, one of the best things you can do is tell the media about it & name your crooked lawyer.

Revealed: Suspended & Bankrupt lawyers are secretly still working in Scotland

Exclusive Report: An investigation has revealed twice suspended but still working as a solicitor John G O'Donnell has impersonated a deceased lawyer as part of an elaborate fraud, while staff at the law firm he worked at said nothing to clients. The Law Society of Scotland did nothing to prevent O’Donnell continuing his reign of scams against clients even after he was twice suspended & made bankrupt. O’Donnell was only found out after one of his clients, saw his photograph in an earlier Sunday Mail newspaper investigation..

Exclusive Report: An investigation has revealed a lawyer who works for the Citizens Advice Bureau is being probed after it’s claimed he targeted vulnerable clients for a crooked legal firm. A client involved in a rent dispute turned to CAB lawyer Gilbert Anderson, who is based at Hamilton Sheriff Court on a taxpayer funded salary. But the ex-Royal Marine sent the client and a friend into the clutches of twice suspended solicitor John G O'Donnell , who does not have a practicing certificate.

BONUS CULTURE of Crown Office fails to deliver justice

An investigation reveals Scotland’s Prosecutors have been caught up in their own BONUS CULTURE where fat cash hand-outs at the end of the year worth tens of thousands of pounds and sly Press Releases short on facts seem to be more important than catching real crooks and delivering on protecting the Scots public.

One of Scotland’s most famous Crooked Lawyers, Andrew Penman of Stormonth Darling Solicitors, Kelso in the Scottish Borders. Read the MEDIA COVERAGE of the case, details which the Law Society of Scotland and several Edinburgh law firms tried to bury.

If you have a similar experience with Stormonth Darling Solicitors, or any other corrupt law firm, we want to hear about it at scottishlawreporters@gmail.com